Archives for July 2015

(ARC) REVIEW | Things to Note in Trouble is a Friend of Mine

July 22, 2015 Leave a Comment

Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly
August 4, 2015
Kathy Dawson Books (Penguin)
Twitter | Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
* ARC courtesy of Kelly

Preparing to survive a typical day of being Digbys friend wasn’t that different from preparing to survive the apocalypse.

Her first day not in school (because she cut) in her new hometown that will soon be her old hometown (because she’s getting out of Dodge as fast as she can) Zoe meets Digby. Or rather, Digby decides he’s going to meet Zoe and get her to help him find missing teenager. Zoe isn’t sure how, but Digby—the odd and brilliant and somehow…attractive?—Digby always gets what he wants, including her help on several illegal ventures. Before she knows it, Zoe has vandalized an office complex with fake snow, pretended to buy drugs alongside a handsome football player dressed like the Hulk, had a throw-down with a possible cult, and, oh yeah, saved her new hometown (which might be worth making her permanent hometown after all.)

A mystery where catching the crook isn’t the only hook, a romance where the leading man is decidedly unromantic, a story about friendship where they aren’t even sure they like each other—Trouble is a Friend of Mine is a YA debut you won’t soon forget.

myreview

First sentence: “I’ve been telling Mom to change the drained batteries in the doorbell since we moved in.”

What happens when you cross Sherlock with Veronica Mars with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? You get Trouble is a Friend of Mine, but the questions you really want to know the answers to are: 1. does the book warrant those comparisons? and 2. is it actually good? Well, I’m glad you stopped by.

Trouble is a Friend of Mine follows Zoe Webster, who recently moved to River Heights with her mom after her parents divorced, and Philip Digby, a suit-wearing teenager who befriends Zoe and ropes her into his investigation (more like shenanigans). They attempt to solve the mystery of the missing teenager as well as the weird cult that lives across the street from Zoe. The situations they get themselves into are both amusing, ridiculous, and dangerous. Will they be okay? Will they solve the mysteries?

Typography

YOU’RE JUST MY TYPE | {30}

July 20, 2015 Comments : 2

I love fonts. You can say I’m obsessed with collecting them all. It’s no secret to those who know me. You’re Just My Type is a new feature where I showcase the fonts I absolutely adore and use. And hopefully, you will love the fonts I pick. Add all of them to your font collection! Let it grow!

Fonts, font, fonts.

Holy gorgeousness, my fellow font lovers. You’ll see lovely lettering; capital letters that look like a whale’s tail (which is my favorite); jaggedness; and unusual font names.

Go forth and add these fonts to your font book!

(Remember, when you download the fonts, look at the license to see what you can and cannot do with it. Majority of these will have Dropbox download links, so if it doesn’t download at first click, click it again.)

GRUNWALD

Grunwald is designed by Guillaume Brette.

Reviews

REVIEW | What Topics Do Emmy & Oliver Explore

July 18, 2015 Comments : 4

Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway
June 23, 2015
Harper Teen
Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
* e-ARC courtesy of HarperCollins + Edelweiss

Emmy’s best friend, Oliver, reappears after being kidnapped by his father ten years ago. Emmy hopes to pick up their relationship right where it left off. Are they destined to be together? Or has fate irreparably driven them apart?

Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life.

She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.

Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart.

He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling.

Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?

myreview

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from Edelweiss + HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

First sentence: “The last time Emmy sees Oliver is on their forty-third day of second grade.”

Have you ever expected to like—even love—a book, but once you’ve read it, it turns out that you don’t like it as much as other readers do? That’s me with Emmy & Oliver. I loved Robin Benway’s writing, but I felt very disconnected from it.

The story goes: Emmy and Oliver have been friends since they were babies in diapers until Oliver disappears when they were in second grade. Ten years later, Oliver reappears, and everybody—Oliver, Emmy, and their parents—have to deal with the effects of his kidnapping and his return as they attempt to rebuild their lives. Even though Emmy wants to go back to the old days when she and Oliver were close, she realizes things have changed for them. She tries to get to know present-day Oliver who is more subdued and hurting, and they both face their struggles and confront their past and their future together.

Lists

Book Bloggers + Books Association Tag!

July 16, 2015 Comments : 6

Do certain books ever remind you of certain bloggers? Share four or more books and explain why they remind you of certain bloggers. (It’s likely that you’ll keep thinking of bloggers once you start thinking about this.) Feel free to share your post on Twitter with #BBBTag. — Kaitlin @ Reading is My Treasure

I saw a few people doing this tag, and I thought what a fun idea! I decided to partake it, and oh boy, maybe I made a mistake? It was honestly difficult trying to figure out what books I associate with other bloggers because I tend to associate pop culture things like Marvel + Disney or general things like their favorite authors or what they like talking about a lot with them. Despite the difficult task, I managed to find books that make me think of certain bloggers.

Let’s see which bloggers I picked to do an association and what books I picked.

C H A R L O T T E

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Nothing says “Charlotte” than lighthearted craziness and historical sleuthing, right? Charlotte’s a bit hard to pin down—only because I always associate her with Mulan and Captain America. Luckily, I remember Charlotte singing praises for Life By Committee and Prisoner of Night and Fog, and since then, I always think of her when I see them. Crazy Rich Asians is a recent addition to “books that Charlotte’s obsessed with and wouldn’t stop talking about.” How can you blame her when you have crazy rich asians being ridiculous with their juicy scandals.

Comics

Eisner Awards 2015: Kickass Ladies, Saga, and Little Nemo Dominating

July 12, 2015 Comments : 3

Have you been paying attention to the Eisner Awards?

On Friday night, July 10 at San Diego Comic Con, the winners of the Eisner Awards were announced, and you can expect the best to have been picked! It was a great night for soo many people, especially the women in comics.

You have Emily Carroll and Lumberjanes winning two awards for their amazingly gorgeous graphic novels; Saga continuing to dominate the continuing series category for the third year in a row; Fiona Staples winning her first award for best penciller/inker; Little Nemo winning multiple awards; and many more!

Check out the winners over here!

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BEST SHORT STORY

“When the Darkness Presses”
by Emily Carroll

Other nominees:

“Beginning’s End” by Rina Ayuyang
“Corpse on the Imjin!” by Peter Kuper, in Masterful Marks: Cartoonists Who Changed the World (Simon & Schuster)
“Rule Number One” by Lee Bermejo, in Batman Black and White #3 (DC)
“The Sound of One Hand Clapping” by Max Landis & Jock, in Adventures of Superman #41-42 (DC)

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